The western invasion: Toronto's new restaurant kings

[ksun]

I have no problem with these kinds of restaurants with respect to them being chains or not cool or original etc. but why is the food so bad at some of these places? Milestones and Boston Pizza represent some of my worst dining experiences in Canada. Maybe it was bad luck or a bad location?

it is not luck. They are simply bad.

 

[ksun]

Ultimately, their business model has been incredibly successful due to the various reasons others have pointed out. Sometimes the dining "experience" is more valuable than the food itself.

Definitely. $17 for a chicken salad and $15 for a chicken/Brie sandwich, for me, no thank you very much. It is exactly the kind of experience I want to avoid.
This is how people who make hardly $50k a year cry poor ("everything is so expensive living in the city") all the time and the next day they go eat at these places spending $45 without hesitation as if it is a daily necessity. And I am sure those servers who are required to maintain certain figure expect large tips as well.

 

[Skeezix]

the hiring process was much more heavily skewed towards the beautiful [...] I witnessed managers laugh at various applicants (once they had left the premises of course) if they didn't fit the beauty standards set within the restaurant. One server, having worked there for a number of months and regularly eating the calorically-dense fare, had gained some noticeable weight by the summertime. Upper management took her aside for a "talk" in which she was politely told to shed a few pounds.

Gross.

 

[Translude15]

Definitely. $17 for a chicken salad and $15 for a chicken/Brie sandwich, for me, no thank you very much. It is exactly the kind of experience I want to avoid.
This is how people who make hardly $50k a year cry poor ("everything is so expensive living in the city") all the time and the next day they go eat at these places spending $45 without hesitation as if it is a daily necessity. And I am sure those servers who are required to maintain certain figure expect large tips as well.

Definitely. 100 bucks at the bar once a week is $400 a month, $4,800 a year. That adds up.

 

[ksun]

Gross.

On second thought, is it?
The restaurant needs physically attractive waitress to be profitable, so it is not unreasonable for the managers to demand that servers maintain good figure as this is what the business is largely based on - notice that this is not discrimination, one tends to throw such words around nowadays. I don't think overweight people, in this case slightly overweight people are a protected group, so these waitresses in selecting to work specifically for this kind of restaurants, should know what they are expected of and being fat is not an option. In this case being pretty is an indispensable skillset and in losing that you risk losing your job and I don't think there is anything wrong with that. Do you think a fashion model can feel free to get fat? Same idea. If the girl feels it is own business, then she is free to work for 99% of other restaurants they don't require being skinny.

 

[jaboober]

It was fun reading through the comments here.
I avoid these chains like the plague when I'm on my own, but if we're meeting a Toronto based client it makes for an easy, non-offensive meal and since it's being expensed anyway it's really a much better option than most non-chains. I did end up at the King St W Keg and was pretty disturbed by the obviously frozen french fries they served alongside my surprisingly good steak. No $30 entree should ever come with such garbage sides.

 

[christiesplits]

http://globalnews.ca/news/2694492/joey-restaurant-server-forced-to-wear-heels-despite-bleeding-feet/

An Edmonton woman has given her JOEY restaurant serving job the boot over a bloody high heel argument.

“My friend’s feet were bleeding to the point she lost a toe nail and she was still discouraged and berated by the shift manager for changing into flats,” Nicola Gavins wrote on Facebook on behalf of her unidentified friend, who resigned from the downtown location following the incident.

 

[ksun]

^ well, if she can't handle high heels, then quit and find another serving job. There are plenty of places which allow flat shoes. You can't expect businesses to change their job requirements or the entire business model to suit you, can you? It is like working for hooter's and expect to be dressed like a nun everyday.

 

[grey]

so much great material in this thread to add to ksun.xlsx